Cougars chase ACHA national three-peat

For Assiniboine Community College Cougars women’s hockey head coach Tony Bertone, the chance to compete at the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division 2 national championship is something that he looks forward to each year.

Blues GM Armstrong to lead Canada at men's worlds

CALGARY - Doug Armstrong has been named Canada's general manager for the upcoming men's world hockey championship in Finland and Latvia.

The St. Louis Blues executive was tabbed by Hockey Canada on Thursday as part of a management team that will also see Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman serve in an associate role.

Shane Doan, who works in the Arizona Coyotes' front office, was named as an assistant GM, while Hockey Canada senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond is also part of the fold.

Armstrong, who helped guide the Blues to victory in the 2019 Stanley Cup final, captured Olympic gold in 2010 and 2014 as a member of Canada's management group before winning the 2016 World Cup of Hockey as GM.

Senators sign Tyler Kleven to entry-level contract

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators have signed defenceman Tyler Kleven to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Thursday.

The 21-year-old set career-highs with eight goals, 10 assists and 18 points over 35 games in his third season at the University of North Dakota.

Expected to joined the Senators on Friday, the six-foot-five, 213-pound Kleven and the Fighting Hawks were eliminated from the NCAA playoffs by St. Cloud State last week.

The native of Fargo, N.D., was selected 44th overall by Ottawa at the 2020 NHL draft.

McDavid scores twice, including 60th in OT to lead Oilers

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid scored his 60th goal of the season with his second of the game 1:31 into overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.

Moments after hitting the post, McDavid went high on Connor Ingram, giving him 60 goals in 72 games and making him the fastest player to reach the mark since Mario Lemieux accomplished the feat in 62 games in the 1995-96 season.

McDavid extended his home points streak to 16 games with his first goal of the game on the power play 5:47 into the opening period.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had a pair of goals, and Leon Draisaitl assisted on all four of the Oilers’ scores. Stuart Skinner made 14 saves for Edmonton, which has won five straight games and nine of its last 11.

Wildcats, Ice ready for final rematch

When the Westman Wildcats and Winnipeg Ice met in the Manitoba Female Hockey League Under-18 AAA championship series last season, they did so after pulling off semifinal upsets over the Yellowhead Chiefs and Winnipeg Avros, respectively.

McDavid hits 60-goal mark with OT winner

EDMONTON - It seems like Connor McDavid can’t go a game without setting a new standard.

McDavid hit the 60-goal mark with his second of the night 1:31 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers took a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

Moments after hitting the post on a previous breakaway, McDavid tried the exact same shot on another breakaway opportunity to score on Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram, making him the fastest player to reach the mark (72 games) since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 (62 games).

“I kind of felt like I was pressing for the 60th all night,” said McDavid, who became the first player in NHL history to score their 60th in overtime. “I was disappointed not to bury (the first one), you are not going to get many better looks than that. It is not every day you get two breakaways back-to-back like that.

Déjà vu for U18 Wheat Kings

The stage was set for the Brandon Wheat Kings to complete their redemption arc against the Winnipeg Wild.

Hammett, club disappointed with season

Logen Hammett is about to have a new experience, and the Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman isn’t especially excited about it.

Oil Caps gear up for Blizzard

For the first time since the Virden Oil Capitals moved from Winnipeg in 2012, they face the OCN Blizzard in a Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoff series.

Canucks D-man Hughes continues to grow his game

VANCOUVER - There's little Quinn Hughes does on the ice that shocks his Vancouver Canucks teammates anymore.

At 23 years old, the American defenceman has already smashed records, and he appears poised to continue elevating his game.

"Everything that he does, from the way that he plays in a game to practice, he’s one of a kind," said fellow blue liner Kyle Burroughs. "He’s a unicorn in a sense.

"How he sees the ice, how he uses his edges — nothing really surprises me anymore with him. He’s up there as one of the best defencemen in the league”

Anholt tabbed to lead Canada's world junior team

CALGARY - Peter Anholt has been tasked with helping Canada win a third straight world junior hockey championship after two successful seasons leading the country's under-18 program.

Anholt, who heads the front office of the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes, is one of three Canadian Hockey League general managers tabbed by Hockey Canada to oversee its men's under-17, under-18 and under-20 programs in 2023-24.

He takes over the world junior program from Ottawa 67's GM James Boyd, who helped Canada win two titles over the span of six months.

Canada beat Finland 3-2 in overtime to win the 2022 championship in Edmonton, which was held in August after being postponed from its traditional December/January slot due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russia, Belarus barred from next season’s ice hockey worlds

ZURICH (AP) — Russia and Belarus teams were excluded by the International Ice Hockey Federation on Wednesday from all its world championships next season.

The IIHF cited security concerns for players, competition staff and fans — because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — to extend the exclusion that will stretch beyond two years when the 2023-24 season is over.

“It is too soon,” IIHF president Luc Tardif said about letting Russia return. “Too many risks.”

The women’s worlds is set to be played in United States. cities in March or April next year and the men’s event in the Czech Republic is scheduled next May.

Oilers sign Berglund to entry-level contract

EDMONTON - The Edmonton Oilers have signed forward Carl Berglund to a two-year entry level contract.

The 23-year-old had 12 goals and 15 assists in 36 games in his senior NCAA season at UMass Lowell.

Berglund, a six-foot-two, 207-pound centre from Hammaro, Sweden, has 36 goals and 53 assists in 114 career games with the River Hawks.

Berglund spent the 2018-19 season with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede. He five goals and 11 assists in the regular season and added a pair of goals in the playoffs to help the Stampede to a Clark Cup title.

Flames bounce back with 5-1 victory over Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Toffoli had three assists, Calgary scored twice on the power play and the Flames bounced back from a six-goal loss one night earlier with a 5-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

Toffoli has nine points in the past four games, including six assists.

Nick Ritchie, Troy Stecher, Rasmus Andersson, Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane scored Calgary's goals. Mikael Backlund had a pair of assists and Dan Vladar stopped 19 shots for the Flames, who rebounded from an 8-2 defeat Monday night in Los Angeles.

“We just wanted to put that game behind us. And there’s no better way to put it behind you than to just go out there and play right away,” said Mangiapane, who scored on a breakaway with less than five minutes remaining for his 12th of the season. “I think the first period set the tone for us. We wanted to come out strong and hard and just keep building off of that.”

U18 Wheat Kings season ends in Game 5 loss

For the second year in a row, the Brandon Wheat Kings’ Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League season ended on home ice in a Game 5 loss to the Winnipeg Wild.

Golden Knights down Canucks for West's top spot

VANCOUVER - Rick Tocchet is still in teaching mode two months into his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks.

And there were valuable lessons to be learned in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, the head coach said.

"You're playing against one of the better teams and you've got to be prepared to play," Tocchet said. "And I don't care who you are. We can't afford to have three or four guys not ready for that type of game."

Turnovers proved costly as the Canucks (31-33-5) went down 2-0 midway through the first period.

Clutterbuck scores 2 as Islanders crush Leafs 7-2

NEW YORK (AP) — Cal Clutterbuck had two goals and an assist as the New York Islanders got all their scoring in the final two periods in a 7-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

Anders Lee and Noah Dobson each had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise, Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom also scored to help the Islanders win their third straight and improve to 7-2-1 in their last 10. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.

New York moved three points ahead of Florida for the top wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers lost 6-3 at Philadelphia.

“We like the way we are playing,” Parise said. “You don’t want to get too caught up in scoreboard watching but we want to take care of what we have to take care of.”